10 Reasons I Wish I Grew Up Literally Anywhere BUT Birmingham

I honestly wish I could have grown up anywhere except Birmingham, and here's my list of reasons why. Do you agree with me?

As great as Birmingham is it’s not always the best place to grow up, the city is crowded and always so busy full of people trying to get from one place to another. Those are only a few reasons why I wish I grew up anywhere but Birmingham, here are a few more:

1. I developed one of the worst accents in the UK

The Brummie accent is one of the most hated accents in the UK so growing up here inevitably meant I’d develop the accent. It gets so bad to the point that other people cannot even understand what I’m saying. This has to be the worst thing about growing up here and why I wish I grew up literally anywhere else but Birmingham.

2. It’s always so busy to the point to where you don’t want to leave the house

People are always complaining about how bad London traffic is but it’s the same thing for Birmingham too. Birmingham is always so congested, it takes at least 20 minutes to get anywhere at all and in some cases up to one and a half hours for a drive that should only take 40 minutes! It gets so bad that sometimes leaving the house just to go to the supermarket can be like a whole day out.

3. It’s also really expensive

Everyone always complains about London being so expensive and think Birmingham is cheaper, although that’s true it’s not as cheap as people expect. For two people to go to and from town on a bus is £4, for an adult travel card for a month is over £60! Usually in a small town gym memberships for a month are around £10-15 but in Birmingham it’s usually more than £25, it’s not as cheap as people expect. But saying that, the food is cheap, especially the chippy where you can get a whole burger meal for just £2.50.

4. Going to any beach in the summer is exhausting

One of the most nostalgic things we remember about our childhood is going to the beach, but because Birmingham is in the middle of the UK you had to drive 3-4 hours for the closest beach. This was one of the reasons growing up in Birmingham wasn’t so great.

5. Birmingham is actually pretty dull

If you grew up in Birmingham you’ll agree that it’s pretty dull, especially around the city center. Only recently have they started making Birmingham look better but growing up Birmingham was a dull place to live especially because it’s a grey concrete jungle.

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6. We have weird weather patterns

Because we’re in the middle of the UK, Birmingham has really weird weather, it’s not south enough to be warm like in London nor is it north enough to be cold so the weather in Birmingham is somewhere in between which made it so hard to plan days and outfits. This is another reason I wish I grew up anywhere but Birmingham.

7. The pollution levels are dangerously high

Birmingham is always congested with cars, buses and lorries which means the pollution levels in Birmingham are quite bad. Not only the pollution but the air itself isn’t very clean or fresh especially if you live closer to the city center, this can affect your skin because of all the impurities too.

8. Not a lot of countryside

Birmingham is a huge city and like I said before it’s a concrete jungle which means there is not a lot of countryside around which is why I wish I grew up elsewhere. Sure they tried to make up for this with quite a lot of parks but that doesn’t make up for the lack of nature in Birmingham.